back to normal around here

Hey everyone!  I'm happy that everyone's vacations are over and we are all back on schedule around here. 

It would have been great if our vacations had been at the same time.  But as soon as I went back to work, the kids had off.  Bummer! 

So how was Easter?  We had a quiet one here.  The boy got his wisdom teeth out on Good Friday and he was not good company. 

Grace made some awesome Easter cards this year.  She was bored on vacation while mom was at work.  Check this kid out:

This was all her doing.  I came home from work and this was on my desk.  This kid rocks!  Look at the detail:

She loves to stamp.  When I have a class at our house, all the other family members disappear.  Not Grace.  She is right in there helping out.  So funny.  This card went to gramma and grandpa.

Look what she made us for Easter morning:

We each got our own card in our favorite colors.  Can you guess which one is mine?  I'll give you a hint:  it starts with crumb and ends with cake.

I have a little box with leftover letters from the Naturally Serif Alpha die cut and she went through there and picked out letters.  She said the words were in the shape of the cross.  Clever girl!  This was another thing she just did on her own.  I don't know where she gets these ideas.  Love that girl!


Mother's Day is coming up you know.  Are you ready?  Me neither.

The other day I had a friend ask me how to make a circle fan and rather than try to explain it to her, I decided to do a picture tutorial.  It was the perfect opportunity to make a Mother's Day card.

How to make a circle fan:

First decide how big you want your circle to be.  Then cut 2 pieces of DSP a little more than half that size.  So, if you want a 4" circle then cut your strips at 2 1/4" x 12.  I cut mine at 1 1/2" x 12".  I didn't need that big of a circle fan. 

For this fan I decided to use my scallop border punch on the edges before I scored them

For this strip I scored it between each scallop.  Can you see the score lines?  Which came out to every 3/8".  Usually when I make a circle fan, I'll score it every 1/4".  It won't be as bulky if you were mailing it. 

Then using my super duper Tombow Multi glue, glue 2 ends together.  You can use tape.  I just like the glue.

Make sure you match up the folds when you glue/tape it. 

Then glue the other ends together and you'll end up with this funky circle.  This is when you would punch out a circle of cardstock.  I punched a 1 3/8" circle but didn't get a pic of it.  Put tape over the whole surface of the punched circle.  Set it aside. 

I also forgot to take a pic of me pushing this circle flat and then gathering it up to get this:

Once you have this, carefully pick it up and put it on top of your sticky punched circle.  Press it down without squashing it. 

Here is what the backside looks like.  It doesn't matter if the circle is centered on the back.  No one will see it. 

I cut my strips 1 1/2" x 12" and it made a 2 3/4" circle fan. 

Now, I don't like this particular pattern of DSP so I made another circle fan out of cardstock. 

Lesson learned:
Making the gathered up cardstock circle stick to the sticky punched circle was next to impossible.  The cardstock is so much stronger than the DSP.  Lighter weight paper works better. 

But of course I couldn't let it go and made it work.  What did I use to strong arm it?  Tombow Multi Glue.  Love that stuff!

I {heart} hearts and Wonderful Favorites stamps.  Very vanilla, old olive and crumb cake cardstock.  Pretty in pink and rose red inks.  Vanilla seam binding, little leaves die, big shot, polka dot embossing folder, cutter kit, Springtime Vintage DSP, scallop border punch. 

I don't love this card.  Its okay.  Not sure I'll send it to her. 

Here's another example of me being a dork.  I had made the edges scalloped like on the DSP one but, when I flattened it and gathered it, I put the scallops on the inside of the circle.  DUH! 

I used the Cutter Kit to rough up the edges of the little circle.  This heart stamp actually says "friend" in the middle.  I covered it.

This one was also scored at 3/8" and you can see how much it sticks out.  Scoring at 1/4" would make it lie a little flatter. 

So there ya go.  Thats how you make a circle fan.  If you decide to try it, show me.  I would love to see your creations. 

Alrighty then, like I said, we are back on normal schedule here.  I have lots to show you and should have more regular posting going on.  Thanks so much for keeping the blog warm while I've been busy. 

Blessings, b.